The following excerpts from the April 24, 2009 edition of the Clarion Ledger serve as an example of how law enforcement officer can subject municipalities to civil liability, the fact that cities and counties enjoy sovereign immunity and thus caps on the amount of damages they must pay when liable, and the benefits of a withhold of adjudication:
A judge has ruled that a then-Jackson police officer showed “reckless disregard” for the safety of others when in 2005 he ran a traffic light in his speeding patrol car and crashed into the vehicle of Desmonde Harris, killing him.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Swan Yerger said Jeffery Middleton was acting in his scope as a JPD officer when the crash occurred, and that, therefore, the city is liable. He awarded the maximum $500,000 that can be assessed against a government entity under the Mississippi Tort Claims Act.
“Officer Middleton knew that anyone crossing traffic at the subject intersection would have little or no opportunity to avoid collision, given his speed, the time of night and that he proceeded against a red light,” Yerger said in his decision this week.
“Since he was acting in the course and scope of his employment during these events, the city of Jackson is liable for all injuries and damages proximately resulting from this accident,” the judge ruled.
[snip]
In March 2007, Middleton, then 29, pleaded guilty to culpable negligent vehicular manslaughter in the death of the 23-year-old Harris, but Hinds County Circuit Judge Bobby DeLaughter later dismissed the charge after Middleton completed a probationary period.
[snip]
When DeLaughter took Middleton’s plea, he placed him on two years’ probation and withheld adjudication of the case. Withholding adjudication meant that if Middleton stayed out of trouble while on probation, the judge could, in effect, undo his guilty plea.
via City liable in ‘05 fatal crash | clarionledger.com | The Clarion-Ledger.
